Defenders of the Caste
The Loyal Soldiers of Spiria otherwise known as 'The Defenders of the Caste' were the remnants of the once powerful Spirian Confederacy until they reformed it in 2745. The formation of the so called 'Defenders' began long ago with the establishment of the first Spirian fleet during the period of time when the confederacy was still alive and well (2658-2731). It became infamous because of the many battles and skirmishes it had been engaged in, and had won. When civil war and revolution struck the confederacy in 2723 the fleet was on the front line, fighting the foe no matter what the odds may be. Eventually they were overcome in a battle outside of the Spirian home planet named 'Morai'. The remainder of the fleet went rogue under the command of an energetic lieutenant (Alejandros Tarsil) in 2729 and stated that the confederacy had become rotten and corrupted with socialist dogs. Alejandros was given the title 'Admiral of the 1st Fleet' by his crew members. Two years after Alejandros' succession as admiral The Spirian Confederacy collapsed into separatist states. Upon the news of the collapse Alejandros knew that he and the 1st Fleet were the only military units to have survived the collapse and were still functional. So he created a revolutionary movement named 'The Defenders of the Caste' in 2732 that aimed to restore the glory of a united Spiria throughout the ashes of the confederacy Their Location was in the south of the Mavina Lodem Frontier. The Aim of 'The Defenders of the Caste' Alejandros Tarsil set a goal for the fleet and that goal was to re-unite the fractured peoples of Spiria under one banner. The Defenders would set up capital in the most populated mining colony in the system of Cradle, Triyuva. Triyuva was an old fortress owned by the confederacy's military for years before the collapse, now it is a bustling port that sustains billions of traders, mercenaries, pirates and most importantly ex-service men of the Confederacy. Alejandros knew that he could turn the ex-service men to his cause because of their strong links with the old confederacy. However the port was owned by a state of revolutionaries and criminals who fought for their cultures freedom back on Morai, they named themselves 'The Brothers of Gulik'. The revolution on Morai failed and the founders of it decided to look elsewhere, and that place they looked was the stars. Vice Admiral Iyjanivi Klos believes that the capital should be somewhere less busy and so populous as Triyuva, he thought that the capital should be a mining colony on the edge of the system named Ryuvik. Ryuvik is a well off mining colony that recently struck Noblite which is a mineral used in ammunition and weaponry. If Ryuvik was taken the Defenders would be able to stock up on an arsenal far larger than what the Brothers owned. The Defenders wanted to start their re-unification in the embrace of space, because they believe that there was a larger opportunity for them to thrive out there. Government The Defenders were ruled by a 'Military Parliament' that was put in place by the Admiral Alejandros. Alejandros decided that all lieutenants and ranks of command are given the duty to detain any soldiers who are committing crimes aboard any of the fleets ships. Alejandros, Iyjanivi, Igoriv and Furlas were the only people who were allowed to give out an execution to a soldier. The Admirals and captains of the fleet formed a small parliament of 10 members (4 are the Admirals and 6 are the Commanders of ships in the fleet). Only Alejandros and Iyjanivi could change the flow of the parliaments decisions if they saw fit. Military The Defenders had 20 ships under their banner, they are listed below in order of size. # Capital Ship 'The Shield-bearer' Commanded by Admiral Alejandros himself. The ship has 50 fighters hidden within its many docks. The ship is so named because of its defensive capabilities against other ships with firepower better than its own. She has 5 marine divisions aboard her. # Carrier ship 'Birds Nest full of Fury' Commanded by Rear Admiral Igoriv Tesseli. The ship holds half of the fleets amount of fighters and dropships which counts up to 40 squadrons. The carrier is armed with small cannons that can bust pieces of hardware in enemy ships for a while to buy it time. # Battleship 'Old Iron-ass' Commanded by Vice Admiral Iyjanivi Klos. The ship has a few heavy fighters holed up in its total 2 docks, atleast 10. The ship has a heavy arsenal of many turrets and cannons, warheads, pounders and machine operated guns make up the arsenal. She has 6 marine divisions aboard her. # Battleship 'Rusty Slugger' Commanded by Captain Cecivik Lawr. The ship is known for its use of bombs and explosives that rain down upon foes once she is in position. Iyjanivi Klos and his 'Old Iron-ass' provides cover for the 'Rusty Slugger' whilst she is preparing to bomb. # Destroyer 'Little Ferdy' Commanded by Captain Vivienck Ikis. Like any destroyer in the fleet this ship is tasked with escorting larger ships and attacking larger enemies in packs. She is the spearhead of this pack and fields powerful weaponry for a ship of her type. # Destroyer 'Humble Killer' Commanded by Captain Gertrik Werni. Like any destroyer in the fleet this ship is tasked with escorting larger ships and attacking larger enemies in packs. # Destroyer 'Noblite Plated Knight' Commanded by Lord and Captain Henrik Brouws. This destroyer is a swifter design that fields a well made radar unlike the rest of the pack and is the eyes and ears of the formation #Destroyer 'Corporal Kliegertz' Commanded by the one and only Corporal Kliegertz one of the most infamous (and Oldest) Spirian men of all time. This destroyer is the only one in the pack that doesn't stay in close formation, its a heavily armoured ramming ship with one large arrow crafted from Noblite on its hull. The ship damages larger enemy ships for the pack to destroy. #Corvette 1 (All Corvettes are commanded by Rear Admiral Furlas Ritkik) #Corvette 2 #Corvette 3 #Corvette 4 #Corvette 5 #Corvette 6 #Corvette 7 #Converted Freighter 1 (All Converted Freighters are commanded by Captain 'Merchant-Man' Klievik Ikrid #Converted Freighter 2 #Converted Freighter 3 #Converted Freighter 4 #Converted Freighter 5 Battles and Skirmishes After the foundation of the Defenders they were in a number of skirmishes against pirates and enemies from separatist states. They are listed below. # The Defensive at Rivosik : 2732 : In the early stages of the Defenders nearly 6 months after they had been founded word was being picked up by dominant pirates and recon groups from The Brothers of Gulik. It was the pirates who were most threatened by the fleet and Captain Scope's (Junivi Retikuk) would be given thousands of armed men and supplies if he destroyed the fleet first. The people who proposed the deal were The Brothers of Gulik, who preferred diplomacy over fighting. The Defenders were leaving port from a small orbital station around Morai named Rivosik where a garrison was stationed by the Admiral after infantry divisions had cleared it of raiders. The fleet under Captain Scope's command attacked through brute force. Admiral Alejandros managed to pull out from the ambush and rallied against the pirate fleet. He sent in the corvettes and the destroyers behind the battleships and sent the carrier to a safe distance so that it could deploy fighter squadrons. The pirate fleet kept on attacking with no real grace to their fighting. Without an offensive tactic in place the pirate fleet crumbled. Captain Scope's ship was boarded after his battleships were laid to waste and his corvettes had routed. The Captain put up a fight in the cockpit of the ship alongside his crewmen against Admiral Alejandros' Storm Troops. He was shot by a stray bullet from a scared deckhand. Some of the deceased captain's crewmen were recruited into the garrison at Rivosik the others were taken into the prison cells there. Some escaped and told the Brothers of Gulik what had happened, which led to the Brothers accusing the Defenders of being wanted in their state. # The Breach at Triyuva : 2739 : A Recon battalion were sent in a team of 6 dropships disguised as merchant vessels to Triyuva. The battalion pretended to be bounty hunters who had come back from a hunt outside of the port. They went into the thick of the ports industrial quarters and recovered important information on the economic status of the city. The city had one quality which shocked the battalion, this was that there was a large amount of Noblite in some of the factories. Most of the Noblite in the factories were being added to weapons and machines. This was a threat to the Defenders and possibly war could break out between the Brothers of Gulik and another state somewhere else in the system. The Recon battalion sent a message via up-link to the dropships in port. The commander of the operation messaged the fleet and awaited response. Eventually after hours of waiting, Admiral Alejandros had called a meeting together at the fleets parliament. The outcome of the decision was to sabotage the industrial sector of the port and leave the arsenal of Noblite in ruins. The recon battalion set up explosives while most civilians had headed indoors. Patrols were out in the night and the battalion made contact after the explosives had been set, gunfire raged through the streets as the recon battalion tried to escape. The explosives were set off as the battalion clambered into the dropships under cover of a fighter squadron that had arrived from the carrier 'Birds Nest full of Fury'. They lost 12 servicemen in the skirmish. # The Betrayal by Zilikistha : 2740 : The fleet were protecting the State of Zilikstha when they were attacked by merchant vessels with light armaments, the vessels only caused a scratch to the ships in the fleet but a fighter had been downed during the skirmish. The vessels were salvaged by Converted Freighter 3 and 4 when they recovered Ziliksthan markings on the ships. The find was brought to the Ziliksthan government and was denied as an attack on the fleet. After a few weeks of patrolling the state, the 1st fleet came under attack by a large group of Ziliksthan fighters and corvettes. There were no destroyers or battleships under the enemies command so the battle was mostly fought by the fighters, corvettes and converted freighters of the fleet. The battle was won by the fleet and the Zilikisthan military stations were attacked, the Zilikisthan government surrendered and handed over payment for their terrible mistake in form of fresh units and fighters. # The Artefact : 2743 : The fleet had raided a pirate station that belonged to Captain Scope's son, Yuniki Retikuk the Black. The station confined a Xenos artefact of extreme value that went for as high as 2 Million Confederacy Moraites. The artefact was defended by a battalion of pirate raiders in the eastern wing of the station, the wing the fleet had not yet cleared. The artefact's origin was from the collapsed Khaldyr Network, and was a piece of a Khaldyr Hunter's armour. After the eastern wing had been cleared the artefact couldn't be found by the Storm Troops who had engaged in combat with the pirates. Divisions There were 30 Divisions in the fleet, below they are listed. The divisions of the fleet were commanded by an old Brigadier named 'Klaatzerik Klus'. He was recruited in New Rhetik 1 year after the foundation of the Defenders. The sacred bands were commanded by their respective admirals. # Alejandros' Sacred Band # Iyjanivi's Sacred Band # Igoriv's Sacred Band # Furlas' Sacred Band # 1st Guards Division # 2nd Guards Division # 3rd Guards Division # 4th Guards Division # 1st Marines Division # 2nd Marines Division # 3rd Marines Division # 4th Marines Division # 5th Marines Division # 6th Marines Division # 7th Marines Division # 8th Marines Division # 1st Recon Division # 2nd Recon Division # 3rd Recon Division # 4th Recon Division # 1st New Rhetik Volunteers # 2nd New Rhetik Volunteers # 1st Specialist Division # 1st Armoured Division # 2nd Armoured Division # 3rd Armoured Division # 1st Stealth Division # 2nd Stealth Division # 1st Engineer Division # 2nd Engineer Division The fleet had additional 'Peacekeepers' that act as garrison divisions in numerous stations owned by the Defenders, they did not travel with the fleet. There were 5 'Peacekeeper' divisions and they are listed below with their respective stations. # Old Patras Division - Station of Patras # Rhetik's End Division - Station of Rhetik's End # Noblus Reach Division - Station of Noblus Reach # Men of Clamitik - Station of Clamitik # Officer Wertz' Band - Station of Hurlak Images of Military Personnel and Engagements Storm Trooper.jpg|A Trooper from the 4th Marines Division Engineer.jpg|A Member of the 2nd Engineer Division Defender Specialist.jpg|A Member of the 1st Guards Division (Guardsmen wear Blue uniforms) The Defensive at Rivosik.jpg|The Defensive at Rivosik (2732)